Description

Mega Man 3 is a traditional side-scrolling platformer: you jump from brick to brick while avoiding pits and shooting robots. It's quite similar, in all respects, to other Mega Man games; however, this is the first time that you get a sidekick. It's also the first time you're allowed to slide instead of merely walking.

Rush is your dog who helps out by offering other modes of transportation when you need it. He starts out with the 'Rush Coil' ability to launch you to the top of the screen like a springboard; later he acquires the 'Rush Jet' ability to turn into a guided, floating platform to carry you wherever you need to go; and he also gets the 'Rush Marine' ability which is a submarine that works just like the jet except underwater and with the added ability to hop around out of the water (you can actually jump while on the jet but the jet continues to hover beneath you whereas you stay inside the submarine). All of these abilities function just like boss weapons.

When you defeat the boss at the end of a level you gain his power - or at least a similar power. You may pause the game at any time and switch to any single power you have. It supplants your regular Arm Cannon with a limited - but superior - ability. The weapon ammo is displayed next to your energy meter. There are eight of these, corresponding to the eight main levels, even though there are twenty-one levels in the entire game.

Enemies will often supply you with both energy and ammo refills. You can also collect Energy Tanks which can only be used once but will entirely restore your health. You start the game with three lives. Other features include Surprise Boxes lying around for you to find. There are infinite continues and a password feature to resume play at the beginning of any level.

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Trivia

Legacy

Rockman 3 marked the appearance of nearly every standard to the Rockman formula: Rush the dog, Rockman's slide, Blues, and the occasional reappearance of old Wily Robots. Just remember though: that's most of the standards. Others like the Teleporter Room (go through eight teleporters and beat all the Wily Robots again) and Rock Buster appeared in Rockman 2 and Rockman 4, respectively.

Music

Harumi Fujita was originally hired to compose the sound for this game, but could only compose the Gemini Man and Magnet Man themes and part of the Staff Roll theme before dropping off the project (and eventually leaving Capcom) to give birth. Her husband Yasuaki was then hired to complete the project. Harumi is credited in Special Thanks as "Mrs. Tarumi".

NES version

In the original NES version of this game, players could access secrets by plugging in a second controller. For example, if the player holds right on the second controller and presses A on the first controller, Mega Man will do a super jump, and if the player holds right on the second controller when falling into a pit, Mega Man won't lose a life. However, these codes cannot be used in the Rockman Complete Works, Mega Man: The Wily Wars, and Mega Man Anniversary Collection versions. The reasons are unclear, but it is likely that this was because a sort of debug mode was accidentally left in the final NES version.

Sales

According to publisher Capcom, Mega Man 3 has sold 1.08 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).

Awards

Related Web Sites

Howard & Nester do Mega Man 3 (A regular feature in Nintendo Power magazine, Howard & Nester was a comic strip about two game whizzes who would one-up each other, while disclosing hints and tips, in the settings of various recently-released games for the NES platform. In Volume 21's two-page installment, our heroes defend themselves (and Rush, the robot dog) from evil clone-robots, thanks to the Needleman boss' weapon.)

Mega Man Central (Information on all Mega Man games, including little known titles such as the PC series and Japan only games.)